Railway-brake.



PATENTED JAN. 6 1903.

G. HOUPLAIN.

RAILWAY BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED mm: 30, 1902.

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No. 717,996." PATENTED JAN. 6, 1903.

e. HOUPLAIN.

V RAILWAY BRAKE. APP-LENNON FILED JUNE 80, 1902.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGES HOUPLAIN, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

RAILWAY-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,996, dated January 6, 1903.

Application filed'June 39,1902. Serial No. 113,801. (No model.)

To OLZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LGnoReEs HOUPLAIN, engineer, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway- Brakes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in railway-brakes operated by an elastic fluid, (compressed or rarefied air;) and it has for its object to effect an economy in the quantity of air required for each brake action and to insure the uniform expansion of the air in all the auxiliary reservoirs, and thereby produce increased brake-power and equalization of pressure on all the brake-blocks.

As is well known, in existing brakes (Westinghouse, "Wenger, &c.) the air is caused to act upon a piston the rod of which is connected to the brake-lever, and in orderto permit of the reduction of the diameter of the said piston and its cylinder while still providing sufficientbrake-powerithas been usual to interpose between the piston-rod and the brake-blocks one or more levers for multiplying power. These levers, however, increase the piston-stroke, so that this is comparatively great, and the air necessary for operating the same must obviously increase in proportion therewith. Thus almost the entire stroke (about eighty per cent.) is utilized for moving the brakeblocks onto the wheel, and therefore the requirement of air is much too great, because the efiort of displacing the brake-gear is very small. Furthermore, the amount of air required varies with the wear of the brake-blocks, for the reason that the stroke of the piston increases as thebrakeblocks wear away. It is therefore evident that the air used for moving the brake-blocks onto the wheels is very disadvantageously utilized. Many inventors have endeavored to obviate these objections; but the means proposed'by them have either failed to produce the desired results or else have proved to be too complicated for general adoption, while, moreover, their adoption necessitates more or less important and expensive alterations in existing rolling-stock.

The present invention relates to a very simple mechanical device adapted to be placed between the brake-lever and the piston-rod and the adoption of which is inex pensive, necessitates no alterations of the vehicle, and efiectually removes the two causes of the loss of air, hereinbefore mentioned, which in reality form one, viz: first, the very long stroke of the piston for moving the brake-blocks onto the wheels, and, second, the gradual increase of such stroke to compensate for the wear of the brake-blocks.

In order that my invention may be readily understood, I will describe the same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows the arrangement with the brake off. Fig. 2 shows the position of the parts at the moment that the brake-blocks are brought into contact with the wheels. 3 to 8 show, to a larger scale, my improved arrangement and parts thereof separately.

In existing brakes the piston-rod a is directly connected to the lever I), which controls the movement of the brake-gear. My invention consists in interposing between these two parts two levers c and d, so arranged that one of them, a, is perpendicular to the piston-rod a when the brake is 0E and that a slight displacement of the piston causes it to move through a quarter of a revolution, so as to bring the same into alinement with the piston-rod, and this for the purpose of multiplying the piston-stroke and moving the brake-blocks into contact with the wheels.

My invention further consists in causing the piston-rod to act on a suitable piece e, hereinafter referred to as the rack. The lever a is a double one, as shown in detail in Fig. 8, and each arm of said lever is slotted at f, and a cross-pin 9 passes through the lower end of said arms and also through the piston-rod a, said pin constitutinga pivot for said arms. The lower end h of each arm of the lever c is rounded and engages in a reof the recesses 17in the cheeks j with which The extremities h of the v Figs.

they engage have such a form as to cause the slightest motion of the piston-rode (one centimeter, for example) to effect the reversing of the lever 0 around the pin 9 and so place said lever in alinement with the rod 0.. (See Fig. 2.) The rack e is located between the cheeks j, which thus serve as a guide for it.

The rack is shown separately in Figs. 4 and 5. The upper face of the rack is formed with teeth 7t and with a hole on, while on each side it has a stud n. In the hole m engages a strong pin fast in the piston-rod C6 in such a manner as to cause the rack to positively follow the reciprocations of the piston-rod. The studs n engage at each side in a slot 0 in the cheeks j. As shown in the drawings, these studs are narrower than the width of the slots 0, so that the rack may perform a slight vertical movement. Studs 10, fixed on the under side of the rack 6, connect it with a plate g, which carries springs r, tending to force the rack constantly upward. The upper end of the multiplying-lever b is forked and each arm thereof is formed with a slot 8. The lever 01, which connects the lever c r with the lever b, engages by one end between the two arms of the lever c, to which it is secured by a pin t and by its other end between the two arms of the forked end of the lever 19, to which it is secured by a pin u. The pins in move in the slotsfand 8, respectively. The lever d is further provided at its end, which is in engagement with the lever c, with a nose 1), and a spring to is provided so as to constantly draw the pint away from the pivot g. Another spring a: is secured at one end to the brake-cylinder and at its other end by means of a chain y to the upper extremity of the lever c.

The above-described arrangement operates in the following manner: When the brake is oh, the piston is at the end of its stroke to the left and the lever c is practically perpendicular to the piston-rod, while the brake-blocks are moved away from the wheels. This is the position shown in Fig. 1. A slight movement of the piston toward the right causes thelever 0 to swing about its pivot g, and this movement is transmitted to 'the lever b by the pins tand u, so that the upper extremity of said lever describes a path which increases relatively to the travel of the piston by a quantity varying according as the pin 25 is situated more or less distant from the pivot g. The lever 17 moves from the position AB, Fig. 2, into the position AC and causes the brakeblocks to come into contact with the wheels by the action of the spring 10, which tends to force the lever 01 toward the right as far as it can, and thereby causes the nose 1; of said lever to engage in that tooth 7c of the rack e which corresponds to the degree of wear of the brake-blocks. In this position the parts are ready for the brake action. From this moment the movement of the piston toward the right is communicated positively by the strong pin engaging in the hole m of the rack e and by the said rack and the nose '0 to the lever d, and consequently to the lever 17, which lastnamed is then caused to move from the position AC into the position AD, being that corresponding to the action of the brake-blocks onto the wheels. During the taking off of the brake the piston recedes toward the left by reason of its spring ,2, and all the parts move first rigidly as far as the position shown in Fig. 2. As the piston recedes farther with the lever c the extremity h of this latter will at a given moment come opposite the recess 71 and then the spring a: will restore the double lever c to the first position, Fig. 1. Directly this lever commences to rotate about the pivot g the backward movement of the pistonrod a supplements the action of the spring 00, because the lower end it of the double lever 0 comes into contact with the left portion of the recesses 2'.

The following are the advantages of this system: I

First. It reduces the quantity of air necessary for each brake-cylinder. For example, if in a given brake .the piston have a stroke of twelve centimeters,ten of which are utilized to bring the lever 19 from AB to AC and the remaining two centimeters to bring it from AC to AD, the stroke of this piston will with my arrangement not be more than three centimeters, one of which serves to bring the lever b from AB to AC and two centimeters to bring itfrom AC to AD. Hence I eifect an economy of seventy-five per cent. of air.

Second. My brake is more powerful, for as I do not change anything in existing apparatus the pressure in the brake-cylinder will be greater at the moment of producing the brakeaction, as the air from the auxiliary reservoirs will undergo a less expansion.

Third. The action of all the brakes is the same, since it is independent of the state of wear of the brake-blocks, because on vehicles on which the brake-blocks are much worn the nose 1; takes up a position more to the front end of the rack 6, while on vehicles on which the brake-blocks are new the said nose takes up a position nearer to the pivot-pin g.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. In an air-brake, the combination of a piston and its rod a, a lever b for controlling the brake, two levers a and (1, one end of the lever 11 being pivoted to the lever 19 and one end of the lever 0 being pivoted to the rod 0. and the other ends of said levers being pivoted to each other and cheeks j having recesses '2; to normally receive one end of the lever c and hold the same perpendicular to the rod a when the piston is in its idle position and also to put said lever 0 into alinement with the rod a when the same is operated to thereby multiply the movement of the red at at the comthe lever 01 having a pin fitted in said slot and mencement of the brake action and bring the brake-blocks into contact with the Wheels b a very slight movement of the piston.

2. In an air-brake, the combination of a piston and its rod a, a lever b for controlling the brake, two spring-actuated levers c and d, the lever 0 having an elongated slot and a nose at its free end, a rack operable by the rod a, the teeth of which are'adapted to be engaged by said nose, and cheeks j having recesses 41 to normally receive one end of the lever c and hold the same perpendicular to the rod a when the piston is in its idle position and also to put said lever 0 into alinement Wllihilhe rod 0!, when the same is operated to thereby multiply the movement of the rod a at the commencement of the brake action and bring the brake-blocks into contact with the Wheels by a very slight movement of the piston.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

GEORGES HOUPLAIN.

Witnesses:

EDWARD P. MACLEAN, ALFRED FREY. 

